What does carbon do in a filter?

Question

Out of curiosity, what does carbon do in your aquarium filter besides remove medicine. Can a tank be filtered properly without it, say like with floss and sponges put in the filter?

Answer 1

Carbon tends to absorb chemical impurities in the water and help with odors. Floss and sponges will catch larger particles. There are also other media to help with ammonia and phosphates. But the filter itself is the most important part. I usually just have a sponge in mine for extra bacterial filtration. Sometimes I will use other media but not often. Most people use the basic carbon media and it's a good filter media. I would recommend making your own filter cartridges though, it's cheaper. You can buy the filter floss or the bags and the media you want to use. I would recommend a mix of good quality carbon and an ammonia absorbing media. It takes a few minutes but is much more cost effective then buying the premade.

Answer 2

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RE:
What does carbon do in a filter?
Out of curiosity, what does carbon do in your aquarium filter besides remove medicine. Can a tank be filtered properly without it, say like with floss and sponges put in the filter?

Answer 3

Carbon removes a variety of chemicals from your water. Mostly dissolved organics that as the above poster said, cause discoloration and odors. There are a lot of things carbon will not remove as well, such as salt, or any materials that affect hardness or pH.

Certainly a tank can be properly filtered without carbon, but many feel that it is an important step in filtration as the materials removed can cause a tank to foul more quickly.

MM

Answer 4

carbon absorbs odors, discoloration (such as tannins from driftwood) as well as ammonia and other dissolved toxins.

You can run a filter without carbon. I did so for years. Only used carbon when trying to remove meds after treating a tank or occasionally to "polish" up the water.

Answer 5

Carbon filters out the impurities (waste) in the water